Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Dresden

The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts is one of the oldest schools of art in the German speaking world. The academy is significant because it replaced court patronage and provided a platform for learning, interaction and promotion of art and artists in the region.

The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts occupies three buildings and the prominent part of the college is in Bruhl’s terrace near Frauenkirche. The buildings were designed by architect, Constantin Lipsius by the order of Prince Elector Frederick Christian of Saxony and built between 1887 and 1894. The building has a neo renaissance style and the distinctive feature is a large glass dome called the lemon squeezer because of its shape. The structure suffered extensive damage in the 1945 fire bombings. The academy was reorganized, reconstructed and restored to its former glory in 1991.

The Academy of Fine Arts has an illustrious past of being administered by some well known artists of the time. Prominent directors were French artist, Charles Hutin, the first director and Bernardo Bellotto also known as Canaletto who painted landscapes of Dresden City. The Academy became one of the most important fine art schools in Europe in the 19th century because of teachers like painters, Anton Graff and Adrian Zingg.